BLOG -- Anime Revolution 2019 (AniRevo)

So... I mainly attended Anime Revolution (AniRevo) for one thing: to see TAM and Akai Ryusei again. Those two (their music and them as individuals) left such a lasting impression at International Fan Festival Toronto (IFFT) that I had to see them again! I just never thought that chance would come so soon! ^_^

Similar to IFFT, AniRevo's ticket pricing had different tiers. The tiers ranged from Early Bird general ($30-45) to Master ($5,000 -- whoa!). For AniRevo, I really wanted access to reserved seating and priority line-ups, so I got the Gold admission. On the chance that there would be a concert event (it wasn't confirmed when I bought my admission), I wanted to make sure I got decent seats!

AniRevo took place at Vancouver Convention Centre in the West building. I was glad that it was close to a station. I tend to get lost fairly easily in new places, hahaha.

Because I live in Toronto, I had to pay for a flight to Vancouver. As for hotel costs, I didn't have any. My friend in Vancouver was very generous to let me stay at her place for the whole time (if you are reading this, thank you! You rock! ^_^).

Now... Just to warn you: this blog will be quite long (and possibly boring). I'll be covering each day of AniRevo -- what I did, what panels I attended, and any thoughts. That's many days' worth of blogging. Certain parts of this blog are also more for myself, as I'm doing my best to record the interactions that I really want to remember. Also, please note that any conversations I record are to the best of my recollection! So some things could be paraphrased.

I've lumped all my pics of cosplayers into one section. If you want to see just that, search for "Photos of Cosplayers". For the section of what I've bought, search for "My Convention Purchases". :)

The Little Details

Dates of Anime Revolution (AniRevo): August 9 - August 11, 2019
Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, West Building (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Ticket Price Total: $288.75 (Gold Premium admission)

Thursday (Day Before AniRevo)

When I arrived in Vancouver, it was around 3:30 PM. When I picked up my luggage, it was around 4 PM. Then I hopped on the SkyTrain and rode all the way to Waterfront station. I decided I wanted to pick up my convention tickets first before dropping my luggage at my friend's place. 

On my way there, I thought: 'It'd be really cool if I got to see TAM and Akai Ryusei today... I know they're already in Vancouver [from their Tweets]'. Then I wiped that possibility from my mind, thinking the chances of us being at the same place at the same time, especially when it's unannounced, would be near impossible.

It was around 4:50 PM when I got off at Waterfront station. After getting lost for a few minutes, I got to Vancouver Convention Centre around 5 PM. I got in line to pick up my tickets -- only to find out minutes later that I was waiting in the wrong line. I was directed to another booth to pick up my tickets and there was no line at all.

After receiving my tickets and goodies that came with my Gold admission, I started to lug my luggage (and myself) back to the convention entrance when I heard a familiar voice. It was distinct (to me) and it was speaking Japanese. I turned to the direction of the voice and my jaw dropped. TAM and Ryusei were maybe a few feet behind me, walking in my direction.

I stared, completely shocked. The possibility I dismissed earlier... was happening right now!!! O___O!

As they were about to pass by, I took a chance.

"Hi!" I said, waving my hand in front of Ryusei.

Ryusei turned to me, saying "Hi." Then he made expressions as if he recognized me (which surprised me).

"Uhh, uhh..." Ryusei started. Then he said my last name, and I nodded, confirming I was whom he thought.

"Thank you for watching my [YouTube] LiveStream every week!" he continued excitedly, smiling widely. "Thank you for your [YouTube] SuperChats!"

I don't remember exactly how I responded, but I'm sure it was something positive. My mind was still very blank with shock.

"Ahh... Can I take a picture?" I asked, and Ryusei nodded.

As I got out my phone, Ryusei told TAM in Japanese that I tuned into Active NEETs' YouTube LiveStream every week and would send SuperChats.

"She is your Super Fan..." TAM said in English.

"Yes..." I said, and we laughed a bit.

After the picture, I said I'd see them tomorrow. I didn't want to take up much more of their free time (it's not even convention time yet!), and my mind was still blank with shock.

When I was a good distance away, my smile got wider and wider. I can't believe it! I got to see them again! Kyaaaaa! ~~~~~~ XD. I was very happy for the rest of the day. ^_______^

All the stuff that came with my Gold admission

(excluding the Pikachu cushion at the top-right corner).
Somewhere in the pile is a VIP wristband that I was instructed to wear at all times.

I also had a poster but I horribly damaged that while trying to stuff my jacket away.

My admission tickets. Because of the Gold admission, I got a discount 

when buying the Animusix and Meet & Greet tickets.

From left to right: TAM, me (with my face grey-blocked out), and Akai Ryusei.

I was sooooo lucky to bump into them today! ^___^

Friday
Time Attended: 10:04 AM - 7:30 PM (CLOUDY)

When I arrived, I went to the first thing on my list: the opening ceremonies. I didn't know where the line-up was until I found a whole crowd of attendees. I asked a staff person / volunteer where the end of the line was. She noticed my VIP wristband and led me to a smaller line of maybe 10-15 attendees. Wow -- the power of Premium admission! o_o!

AniRevo 2019 Opening Ceremonies -- 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM

Jeremy Androsoff being emcee to the Opening Ceremonies.

A video came on accompanied with the song "The Greatest Show" from The Greatest Showman movie. That was a strong show opener. Then Jeremy Androsoff popped onstage and was about to sing along when some technical issues happened. The issues got fixed pretty quickly.

Overall, the opening ceremonies was pretty good. Some of the guests were introduced (yayyy, TAM and Ryusei were brought out!). We took a moment of silence for what happened to Kyoto Animation Studios. We watched a short, sad tribute video (I cried). Then the girls from the Tokimeki maid cafe came out and danced a few numbers.

I was kinda hoping that TAM and Ryusei would perform a couple tunes like what they did at IFFT. Maybe I just got spoiled at IFFT, hahaha.

Tokimeki maid cafe.
I liked that they danced to a mix of upbeat and dark-ish tunes.

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With some time left before the next thing (TAM & Akai Ryusei Show), I went into the Vendor Hall / Artist Alley (I will call it the Vendor's Hall for the rest of this blog). After walking by a few random booths, I went straight for TAM and Ryusei's booths. I wanted to buy their CDs before their live show -- i.e. before they would get overcrowded by attendees wanting to buy their CDs.

Even though they haven't yet performed, there was still quite a crowd around their booths. I started at TAM's booth, knowing that I'd need more time with Ryusei (I had a request for Ryusei). After looking through TAM's huge selection, I settled on seven CDs. Each CD was $25, with special pricing on certain ones.

When TAM saw my haul, he exclaimed really excitedly and appreciatively. He was very generous and gave me a free CD. Thank youuuuuuu! ^___^

Then he tried to tell me in a mix of Japanese and English that him and Ryusei were going to be doing three Lives for three days in a row -- at least, I think that's what he said. I nodded to indicate that I'd be attending them.

After shaking TAM's hand and thanking him for coming to Canada (and being thoroughly embarrassed [in a good way] because TAM recorded a short video clip talking about me travelling to Vancouver to see him again), I moved to Ryusei's booth.

I noticed right away that Ryusei was wearing colour contacts. His eyes were red!

After exchanging a "hi", I pointed to my eyes and said, "Your eyes are a different colour!"

"I am Gilgamesh!" Ryusei said, and we laughed.

I looked at his CDs briefly, but then decided to try now.

"Can I make a request?" I asked. I had to repeat myself because Ryusei didn't hear me. I gotta speak up next time, hahaha... ^_^''

Ryusei nodded.

"Do you know Parasyte -the Maxim- anime?" I asked. I was hoping he would play "Next to You".

"Parasyte...?" Ryusei repeated, and then he shook his head. (I remembered later in the day that Parasyte had a different title in Japanese, so he might have recognized that name instead.)

"Okay, that is fine. Ummm... do you know the video game called Actraiser?" I asked. I was hoping he would play "Fillmore".

"Actraiser?!" Ryusei's expression lit up. "I played Actraiser, but I don't know the music."

"I played Actraiser 1 and 2," Ryusei continued in an excited tone. "Actraiser 1 is great, but Actraiser 2 is very bad!"

I laughed. "I feel the same," I said, smiling brightly.

After one more failed request attempt, I took out a tiny notebook where I had a small list of possible requests.

"I wrote a list," I said, laughing, and showed him. Ryusei took the book.

"Ahh, Rayearth..." he said, and started playing the opening theme to Rayearth. I was scrambling to get my phone out to start recording, hahaha. It was very nice and nostalgic.

"Arigatou gozaimasu (Thank you very much)!" I said, beaming.

Ryusei smiled and continued going through the list.

Aw, crap!... I was planning to use that list to make requests throughout the convention -- preferably one request each day -- he didn't need to play them all now! D:

I tried to say that he didn't have to play all the songs now, but I don't think my message was conveyed properly. I was a bit distressed, but happy at the same time. I didn't want to take up so much of his time (he has other fans to tend to)... but I was really happy to be interacting with him. Ahhh... OTL

Ryusei played the opening theme to Attack on Titan, and continued on. I thanked him and smiled appreciatively.

"Castlevania..." Ryusei read. He continued with the list.

"You want his fingers to fall off?" another attendee by Ryusei's booth asked.

"I said I would make challenging requests..." I replied. Before AniRevo, I had responded in one of Ryusei's Tweets saying that I might do this. When I said "challenging requests", I meant requests that might be obscure and possibly not often requested.

"'Undertale -- Not Megalovania'..." Ryusei read out loud, and chuckled. He took a moment and then started playing "Tem Shop". I squealed a little.

"Did you play Mother...?" Ryusei asked, giving me a curious look. On my list was "Mother / Mother 2 Medley". I wonder if he knows that Mother was released only in Japan for the longest time.

"I played Mother 2..." I said, smiling sheepishly. I had been exposed to many songs from Mother thanks to the DS game Daigasso! Band Brothers DX, but I didn't know how to phrase it easily, so I didn't say anything.

"Final Fantasy VI... 'Celes Theme'..." Ryusei began. "I like Final Fantasy VI, but I don't remember the song."

"That's okay," I said.

"Why don't you listen to a minute of the song on YouTube and then play it?", that same attendee suggested.

Ryusei didn't respond for a moment. Then he picked up his phone. 

My eyes widened. "You don't have to play it..." I said quietly.

"Chotto matte," Ryusei said, meaning "Wait a moment."

I made light conversation with that same attendee while Ryusei looked up the song. When he recognized it, he played it very beautifully. 

"Final Fantasy VI is my favourite," Ryusei said.

"It's my favourite, too!" I said excitedly.

"Jikan da!" a volunteer / staff person said to Ryusei. I think that meant "It's time!"

If it's time, then that means that Ryusei and TAM would have to leave soon to the Vendor Hall stage...

Oh no, I didn't buy any CDs from Akai Ryusei... but I have to get good seats! I quickly bought three keychains, asked for my tiny notebook back, and said I'd buy CDs after the show.

I rushed to the Vendor Hall stage, and ran into that same attendee (I guess he left Ryusei's booth at some point and I didn't notice). 

We started talking about how we enjoyed TAM and Ryusei's music. We also talked about other things related to music, and then about the convention.

I was sitting in the second row, hoping that nobody would block my view. About five minutes before the show started, somebody sat in the first row -- right in front of me! Mgrmrmrgr... >:O

TAM holding the CDs I bought. He is very good at posing.

Thank you again for coming back to Canada! ^_^

Ryusei playing "Tem Shop" from Undertale. 

You might need to click "Play" twice, and the volume might be low.

I was very delighted with his song choice! ^___^
Thank you for putting up with all my song requests!

TAM & Akai Ryusei Show -- 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

TAM and Akai Ryusei.
Darn that head that's in front of me! Hahaha.

TAM and Ryusei started with a few anime medleys and then a Touhou Project violin rock medley. Ryusei alternated between using his keyboard and melodica (like a keyboard that produces harmonica sounds), which was really neat! I noticed during the Touhou Project medley that Ryusei played a couple bars from Undertale's "Megalovania" during one of the songs. Did that song always have those musical bars? Or was Ryusei being sneaky? Hahaha :)

Partway through the show, TAM sat down on the stage and took a short water break while Ryusei played a random tune. 

Then... Ryusei started playing "To Zanarkand" from Final Fantasy X. It was soo beautiful. I wanted to sit back and melt into my chair. 

Other songs TAM and Ryusei performed were the boss theme from Final Fantasy VI (woot!), a jazz arrangement medley from Fate / Grand Order (FGO) (If I wasn't using my phone to record, I would have tried summoning in FGO, hahaha), and their final song: Undertale's "Megalovania"! Yayyyy! It was one of my favourites from the show :)

Overall, it was really fun and great! Seeing their energy and passion is always a delight.

TAM taking a short water break.

I don't know what song this is (can anybody tell me?), but I loved 
the sounds when the melodica joined in.

EDIT -Aug.23, 2019 -- The track is "Miiro" by Akino from Bless4, from KanColle.
Thanks TMCraze, and the commenter below! :)

"To Zanarkand" from Final Fantasy X.
Their playing was so beautiful.
Little bits of my voice could be heard -- sorry about that!

A clip of the boss theme from Final Fantasy VI, woot!

"Megalovania" from Undertale. Due to file size restrictions on this blog, 
I had to split the performance into two parts. This is the first part.
Gave me shivers, it was so good! XD

"Megalovania" from Undertale, part 2.
I loved Ryusei's solo bit.

A random, amusing thing that happened in the middle of the show.
My laughter sounded so weird -- I'm sorry, hahaha. ^-^''

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With an hour before the next event, I went and lined up for ProZD's autograph at 2:30 PM. I was really cutting it close, especially since I still wanted to buy CDs from Ryusei (I said I would after the show!). 

Thankfully with my Premium admission, I ended up being the first in line. *phew!*

I'm actually not too familiar with ProZD and his videos, but my friend in Vancouver -- the one I was staying with -- is a huge fan. I thought it'd be a nice gesture and a way of saying thanks for letting me stay at her place. :)

After getting ProZD's autograph, I zoomed to TAM and Ryusei's booths. 

It was crowded, as I had predicted. I didn't say much this time, but looked at Ryusei's CDs intently, trying to decide which ones to get. I had my phone out, with a pic of the CDs I had already bought back at IFFT (just to make sure I didn't buy the same one -- I had to do the same thing when buying TAM's CDs). I decided to prioritize buying his Touhou Bakuon Jazz series, and started a small CD stack.

An attendee beside me noticed and suggested, "Why don't you just buy one of every CD?"

I laughed, smiling. "If I could, I would!"

That attendee then made his purchase and said something to Ryusei in Japanese while pointing at me. I could only imagine the attendee said something like, "She's going to buy a lot of CDs."

While I was still browsing, the same attendee from way earlier showed up. He commented on my stack of CDs and asked if I had listened to all the songs on those CDs before. He was wondering if those CDs would be blind buys.

"It's a mix," I said. I have listened to everything on Ryusei's YouTube channel, but that didn't cover every track in the CDs. So some tracks would be familiar, while the rest would be blind.

Once I was ready, I looked at Ryusei and smiled. I had eight CDs. Ryusei looked at my stack and smiled back. He asked if I wanted any of the CDs signed, offering to sign two of them. I nodded and picked two CDs.

When he was done signing them, he gave me two free bags, handed me my CDs, and said enthusiastically: "Thank you very much! I'm very happy to meet you!"

I looked at him with wide eyes, surprised by his words. He's happy??? To meet me???

"T-thank you very much!" I responded shyly, and we laughed.

"Will you be at the Meet & Greet tomorrow?" I asked.

"Yes."

"I will be there, too," I said sheepishly. "Sorry!" I meant it as, "Sorry that you'll be putting up with me for another day!" ^-^''

Akai Ryusei holding all the CDs I bought. He's still the same cutie!
Thank you again for coming back to Canada! ^_^

Intro to MikuMikuDance with Digitrevx -- 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

MMD in action!

This was interesting, but a lot of it was going over my head. Digitrevx provided a number of resources and then tried to demonstrate the usual processes of working in MikuMikuDance (MMD). Below were a couple points I took away from this panel (I am sorry if I am using the wrong terminology):

-You will likely need a decent video card so models will load up at a fairly decent speed
-When you're done setting up many of the model's points, select all points and register. Otherwise, you could lose all those settings. 

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I went back into the Vendor's Hall. This time, I walked around the Artist Alley section. I ended up spending almost the rest of my money for the day (I had more at my friend's place). 

With not much left to do (I didn't want to keep bothering TAM and Ryusei, hahaha), I lined up for the next thing. There was already a crazy long line, but thankfully -- only three Premium attendees were in line.

I ended up chatting with those attendees about various anime series. 

Rating Anime Wives with ProZD -- 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM

ProZD setting the SafeSearch ON on Google Images.

This was just hilarious. Attendees were invited to line up behind a microphone in the center of the room and to name an anime or video game character. ProZD would then Google Image the character, and after more information was provided from the attendee about the character, ProZD would rate out of 5 how good a wife or husbando (or son / daughter) that character would be. 

I was especially amused by the below suggestions:

-Arsene from Persona 5 (rated 3.8/5) <-- I just got a kick that somebody suggested a Persona XD

-Medea from Fate / Grand Order (rated 3.4/5 -- the attendee said, "She's a 3-star, but in my heart, she's a 5-star!")

-Petelgeuse from RE: Zero (rated 1/5 -- when asked what the attendee liked about Petelgeuse, the attendee said, "Hmmm...")

-Miles Edgeworth from the Ace Attorney series (rated 5/5; 6/5 with glasses) <-- I would heartily agree, hahaha

If I could, I would have wanted his rating for Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho. He is still *muah* perfection! At least in my eyes, hahaha ^____^ <3

Misc. Photos for Friday

The line-up to buy / pick-up admission tickets.
I'm glad I picked up my tickets on Thursday!

Hatsune Miku racing car!

Doki Doki Racing Club Car!

This was a 2B car that encouraged attendees to doodle on the white space.

Another shot of the 2B car.

And another shot. If I had a black marker, I would have drawn something, too!

Saturday
Time Attended: 11:30 AM - 8:40 PM (CLOUDY-RAINY)

So today I decided not to buy anything from the Vendor's Hall. Tonight was the Animusix concert and I wanted to be sure I wasn't carrying a lot of things. 

I was -- super nervous -- about the next event. It was a Meet & Greet thing with some of the guests. I only bought a ticket for it because TAM and Ryusei were listed as some of the guests. I was nervous because I didn't know what typically happened during a Meet & Greet. The ticket specifically said that asking for photos or autographs were NOT allowed, so...

Would I be expected to make conversation? How many other attendees would be there? Would we all sit at one table? How would snacks and drinks be served to us? All these questions were floating in my head and they were driving me nuts, hahaha. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before on my blogs, but I'm generally very shy and quiet in large groups. I'm more comfortable when it's one-on-one or a very small group like 2 or 3 people.

When 12:30 PM rolled around, I decided to check if any line-ups were forming outside the meet-up spot. The Meet & Greet was taking place outside the convention at a Rogue Kitchen. I walked out of the convention, crossed the street, and walked to the closest Rogue Kitchen. A couple attendees were already waiting outside. I spoke to them, asking if they had attended Meet & Greets before and the usual processes. 

They said that in the past, multiple tables would be set up and each guest would sit at a table. The attendees would form a line behind the guest they want to speak with, and then the attendee would have about five minutes to chat / ask a question. When the time was up, the attendee could line up to speak with another guest or line up behind the same guest. There would usually be a staff person around at this time to do set ups.

12:45 PM came and there still wasn't any staff person in sight. A few more attendees showed up at this point. We decided to go into the restaurant to see what was up.

It turned out... that we were waiting at the wrong location! Crap!!!!! We Google mapped the address on the ticket and zoomed out of there. I was a little worried about how many other attendees would think the same thing that we did -- that the Meet & Greet location would be at the Rogue Kitchen that was closest to the convention. It was also located on W Cordova Street, the same street that was printed on the Meet & Greet ticket. Hahaha... >__>'''

Meet & Greet -- 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM

The Meet & Greet was set up the way the attendees told me. At each table were about four to five empty chairs. Of course, I went straight for TAM and Ryusei's table. I sheepishly said "Hi", and they responded warmly, calling me by my first name. I didn't give much reaction to it, but I was internally surprised and giddy that they called me by my first name (in Japan, calling somebody by their first name often denoted a level of closeness). Thank youuuu! ^_^

A translator was sitting next to Ryusei. I asked both TAM and Ryusei for any recommendations for places to check out when I go back to Japan next year. TAM asked when I would go. I said April or May. That made them think. I don't think I got an answer from TAM because another attendee greeted him and sat at the table, but Ryusei still thought about it. In the end, he suggested a butler cafe (Hmmmmmm... how proficient would I need to be in Japanese to check it out and have a good time...?). 

I also asked Ryusei if he played the Undertale game, and how he played it. I should have rephrased the question or gone into more detail. Because Undertale is so open in how to play it, I was wondering what kind of choices he made. He said that he tried fighting Sans, but the battle was so difficult that he ended up watching a video of the fight. I should have asked if he ended up beating the game... I guess it'll be a question for the future! Hahaha.

I asked if Sans was his favourite character, and Ryusei said that the dog character was his favourite.

"Temmie?" I guessed, and Ryusei confirmed that was correct.

After that, the chairs started filling up. I barely said anything afterwards. Any attendees who spoke in Japanese, if it didn't seem like a personal conversation, I tried deciphering what the question was based off key words I might have recognized.

At one point, I made motions to leave, telling the translator that I've been at the table for too long (I wanted to give other fans a chance to sit and ask questions). The translator told me it was okay that I stay. Or -- if I wanted, to speak with another guest and then come back. At that, I smiled inwardly.

"There isn't anybody else I would visit," I said to the translator. Then I looked at Ryusei and continued, "I'm only here for you."

"I know!" Ryusei responded in a tone that sounded like a light teasing jab. We laughed while I tried hiding my embarrassed face.

I was pleasantly surprised that the first two attendees to sit at the table after me were also from Toronto. Thank goodness! I wasn't the only one who travelled for TAM and Ryusei ^_______^

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With Animusix being the next event, I had a lot of spare time. I decided to do some wandering around Vancouver. I chose a street and decided to walk East. About 20-30 minutes later... I regretted my decision. Sadly, I think I chose the wrong street to walk on. The building architecture changed as I kept walking, but not for the better... :( I ended up taking the bus back to my starting point.

After eating an early dinner, I went back to the convention. Since I didn't have anything else to do (it was 4:15-ish PM), I lined up for Animusix. I accidentally lined up in the platinum line and went to the gold line. Even then, I was second in line in the gold line. 

The first attendee in the platinum line seemed to be a celebrity chaser, with a slight attitude. One time he looked at me and said, "Point, and laugh at the Plebs." I followed his pointing finger to the crowd of attendees with regular / non-premium admission. I turned back to him and said firmly, "No, I won't." I might have also glared at him -- I don't remember. 

One funny conversation I overheard while waiting was an attendee saying that he would judge who would best fit as his girlfriend based on how well she could duet with him in karaoke. Interesting criteria -- maybe I should set something similar for myself to determine who would best fit as my boyfriend. I do love singing after all, hahaha! :D

Around 6:10-ish PM, I heard piano and violin sounds coming from the concert venue. I got excited!!!

Animusix Anisong Concert -- 6:15 PM - 8:40 PM

As soon as I entered the room, slow, beautiful music played. The attendees in front of me ran down to the front, so I ran, too. It almost felt like we were trying to catch the beautiful music that lingered by.

TAM and Ryusei were already on stage. The purple lighting was dim so I couldn't see their faces and mist was blowing about. I was awestruck -- they looked like Godly figures! Here's a tweet with a picture if you want to check it out: here. Similar to the concert at IFFT, photos and video recordings were strictly prohibited.

Once I sat down (second row), I relaxed and drank up the slow, sorrowful notes. It was so, soooo goooood! When the first medley was done, they started up another one.

!!! My eyes went wide. This is Clannad! Even though I haven't watched the series, I could recognize the song "Dango Daikazoku" anywhere! The sounds were so beautiful and sad. It felt like the instruments themselves were weeping. When the song transitioned to "Tori no Uta" from Air, I almost cried. Was this... their tribute to Kyoto Animation Studios? 

I was slightly annoyed by the announcer advertising penlights and towels at the back every now and then, and by two attendees sitting closeby who were talking over the performance. I just wanted to get lost in the beautiful music! >:| 

When the concert finally started (before was just a "warm-up", as the announcer called it), TAM and Ryusei introduced themselves. They said they'd be doing a 30-minute anime medley.

I got my penlights out. I was a little nervous. This would be my first time using penlights. I was a bit worried about waving them the wrong way or displaying the wrong colour. Ahhh -- things I wouldn't need to think about if I didn't have them to begin with. But -- I wanted to wave them around. I wanted to try giving back the same energy and excitement that the performers would give me. ^__^

And TAM and Ryusei's anime medley definitely gave me lots of energy and excitement! It was so awesome and fun! I didn't know which anime a lot of the songs came from, but I recognized many of them. I especially loved when it transitioned to "We Are!" from One Piece. I recognized it right away from the first chord / key change, but nobody else did, so I didn't cheer right away. Ryusei tried singing the chorus parts so the audience joined in, too.

Close to the end, Ryusei and TAM encouraged us to stand. It was good timing because the medley transitioned to "Zen Zen Zense" from Your name., and the audience got really excited. Overall, it was super amaaaaaaaaazing! ^_____^ 

Then the announcer said that we'd get a 10-minute break before the next act. About a minute later... the next act was introduced! So much for taking a break, haha.

Asaka appeared on stage. She was wearing a nice punk-ish dress. I wasn't familiar with her songs (I've heard the song "SHINY DAYS" before, but I never knew that she sung it), but I still stood and tried to wave my penlights appropriately. I liked that she was pretty fluent in English.

At one point she said that she would do a couple covers of anime songs. Then... the opening chords to "Choir Jail" from Dusk Maiden of Amnesia started! I was super excited! This was the song I was hoping Konomi Suzuki would sing back at the concert for IFFT, so I was super stoked to hear it performed now! XD

Asaka's last song was "SHINY DAYS". A video clip played while she sang. It was really fun!

Last but not least was Yanagiyagi. I wasn't too familiar with her songs either, but I knew that she sung "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari" from Bakemonogatari (I've yet to watch the series, but I ADORE that song -- it's just so beautiful). Unfortunately, she didn't sing it... but she did sing something just as awesome: "Melt"! It was specifically the 10th Anniversary Mix, but it was still "Melt"! And I loooooove "Melt"! I waved my penlight around like it was nobody's business and sung to the "la la la la" parts. ^__^ 

After the last song, the lights came on and the announcer thanked everybody for attending. But some of the audience wasn't done. They were chanting "En-co-re! En-co-re!" Eventually the announcer said that there wouldn't be any encores. 

When I got back to my friend's place, I told her and her fiance that the concert was awesome. Then I went on Twitter and saw Ryusei's tweet of melting after the concert. I laughed.

Overall, the concert was great. I enjoyed everything, especially "Melt", "Choir Jail", the anime medley, and the "warm-up" before the concert. Thank you all for a wonderful performance! ^____^

Here's roughly how the concert went and times:
6:15 PM - 7:07 PM -- TAM & Akai Ryusei
7:07 PM - 7:58 PM -- Asaka
7:58 PM - 8:40 PM -- Yanaginagi

Here are two Tweets with the setlists for the concert:
For TAM & Akai Ryusei (when the concert actually started): here
For Asaka and Yanaginagi: here

Misc. Photos for Saturday

None this time.

Sunday
Time Attended: 10:05 AM - 5:15-ish PM (CLOUDY-FOGGY MORNING)

Sunday was a very busy day for me. I had several panels to attend, with very little time in between. Out of them all, I had to do these three things:

-Attend TAM and Ryusei's last show
-Attend the AMV Contest
-Buy more CDs from TAM and Ryusei

Unfortunately, I was slow in getting ready. It could be because I stayed up playing my phone games until 2-ish AM and I woke up at 5:35 AM, haha... ^-^''

When I got to the convention, I was already a little late for the first thing. I did not realize how foggy it was outside until I looked out at the sea...

See all the fog!

There should be mountains in the distance, but you can barely see anything!

Guess That TV Theme -- 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Panelists for Guess That TV Theme.

I ended up not staying for the whole thing, even though I wanted to. The panelists were easy-going and were very passionate about cartoon shows. It was pretty nice listening to the various TV themes, though I didn't recognize most of them. If they played this TV theme, though, my hand would have shot up right away! :) 

I left the panel around 11 AM.

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Like what I did on Friday, I wanted to buy my CDs from TAM and Ryusei before their show. They'd be so busy afterwards, I didn't want to bother them. I also had to line up for the AMV Contest after the show, so I wouldn't have any time anyway.

I started at TAM's booth again. By now, some of his CDs were sold out. After reviewing the CDs I already bought, I slowly gathered a small pile. When I had 11 CDs picked out, I was ready to buy. 

TAM was super appreciative. He ended up giving me a lot of gifts. I wasn't expecting it at all! O__O He gave me... a packaged hand towel from one of his past concerts... a fan-made packaged face towel... a small packet of shrimp chips (yum!)... a free CD... and then...

TAM pointed at his glasses. He said that they got dirty during the concert yesterday. Then he took them off... and placed them on the pile of gifts!!!!!! I stood there, shocked and speechless. Other attendees who noticed the exchange also looked shocked. Slowly, I took his glasses, and wore them. I could see perfectly fine in them!

I turned to TAM and stared at him in bewilderment, thinking, 'You don't need to wear glasses?!' I've only seen TAM wearing glasses. My mind was utterly blown.

I was also crazy appreciative for the gift. That was probably the ultimate souvenir anybody could ever receive from TAM: a pair of his glasses! After a couple more gifts, I said no more gifts; I think I'd be a horrible fan if I kept accepting gifts and they ended up being worth more than the CDs I bought. His glasses were already priceless to me. I thanked him as sincerely as I could.

Then I moved to Ryusei's booth. When it looked like he had a free moment, I said hi.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked.

"Better?" Ryusei asked.

"Are you feeling better from your meltdown?" I was referring to his Tweet last night.

"Ahh, better," Ryusei replied. "Yes. Better." Then he played some chords on his keyboard. "Revival."

I chuckled. I was amused. Then I told him that the Animusix concert last night was really great. 

"Arigatou," Ryusei said, smiling. "What was your favourite song in the medley?"

"Ummm, my favourite was when you played from Clannad, and then from Air..." I made motions to express that I almost cried last night because it sounded so good.

"My favourite from the medley was One Piece!" I continued.

"One Piece?" Then Ryusei played it on the keyboard. I smiled, quietly mouthing the lyrics.

After he was done playing, I asked, "What is your favourite song?"

"Umm, what category? Anime? Game?" Ryusei asked. I had meant what was his favourite song from the medley last night, but I went along with it.

"Anime."

"For anime, it's..." and then Ryusei played a familiar song. It was a song he and TAM performed during the IFFT Opening Ceremonies. I loved the song, but didn't know where it was from.

"'To the Beginning' from Fate / Zero!" Ryusei exclaimed cheerfully. Yes! Now I finally know!

"Ah!" Ryusei said and then sat in front of his keyboard (he was standing before). Then he started playing the Overworld theme from ActRaiser!!! The game I requested on Friday where he said he didn't know the music. That meant he learned it during the convention!

I looked at him, eyes wide with surprise and joy. I quickly got out my phone to record his playing. I was very appreciative and moved that he took some of his free time to learn it! >____< <3

When he finished playing, I thanked him excitedly. Then I realized something: I pressed the wrong button on my phone when trying to take a video! I ended up taking a picture instead. My fists clenched and I was in complete dismay.

N-Nooooooo! I didn't record his beautiful playing! The thing he learned to play for me! I didn't want to ask, but...

"Can... can you play it again...?" My voice was shaky and so desperate. I have no idea what my face expressed, but I was sad about asking him. It took me a while, but I tried explaining that I tried to record on my phone, but I pressed the wrong button.

When Ryusei understood, he promptly played it again, with the same beauty as the first time. I guess I still mess up when I'm around him... *sigh* OTL

I thanked him again, really appreciative that he played it again. I requested one more song from him ("Bad Apple" -- one of my favourite Touhou Project songs so far), and then browsed through his CDs.

When I was ready to buy, Ryusei looked at my stack and smiled. I had 11 CDs. He calculated the total ($275), and I started to get out the money.

"I will give you discount," Ryusei said. Then he showed on his calculator $250. I stared in shock. In the back of my head, I was thinking, 'Ahh, but I'm here to support as much as possible!' (I guess for me, receiving additional CDs for free was more acceptable, because I would still be paying the full amount I expected to pay).

I hesitated, trying to think of alternatives.

"How about..." I started, and I pointed at one of his bags (the same ones he gave me for free on Friday). "I get one bag, but no discount."

Ryusei took a moment and said, "You get bag for free for buying a lot of CDs!"

We laughed. 'I guess I can't win', I thought. I looked at Ryusei and smiled quietly. "Thank you very much!"

When he handed me my bag of CDs, he offered to sign them all, but I'd have to come back at 5 or 5:30 PM when he had free time. I said okay, and I went to the Vendor Hall stage.

I sat in the front row. Nobody's head was going to block me this time!!!

"Birth of the People" (Overworld theme) from ActRaiser.
Thank you for playing it again, so I could video record it!
I really, really appreciate it. >__________< <3 <3 <3

TAM & Akai Ryusei Show -- 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Ryusei and TAM doing sound checks.

This was really fun. It was much more packed than the show on Friday, and lots of attendees were waving penlights and really getting into the music. While no heads blocked my way for video recording this time, I had to contend with volunteers / staff people who were running / sneaking about trying to take good camera shots of the two.

The first half was a mix of anime and Touhou Project medleys, which was great.

Then they did an encore performance of last night's anime medley. It was crazy! I left my penlights at my friend's place (I didn't think I'd need them), but I was tapping along on my purse and singing whenever I could. 

When it got to "Zen Zen Zense", a crowd of attendees showed up in the aisle between the seats and waved their penlights excitedly. They left after the song was done, but that was super random and neat.

They ended the show with Undertale's "Megalovania". Ryusei and TAM encouraged the audience to clap, so I put my phone down and clapped. It was super high energy.

Before everybody left, TAM and Ryusei asked us to stay to be part of a group photo. After that, TAM and Ryusei thanked everybody for coming. Then the audience started chanting, "T-A-M -- TAM! T-A-M TAM!" and cheered. Then the audience started chanting, "Ryu-sei! Ryu-sei!" and cheered. 

"Saikou!" many people shouted. I think it meant "the best." Indeed -- it was "saikou!" ^____^

"Ignite" from Sword Art Online II.

Something from Touhou Project.

"We Are!" from One Piece.
I tried singing along, but my singing's not that great, hahaha.
I'm sorry.

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I was surprised to see such a huge line for the AMV Contest. Are AMVs a big thing in Vancouver?

AniRevo AMV Contest -- 3:20 PM - 4:50 PM

As we went in, we were handed a voting sheet and a pencil. Then 25 AMVs were shown, pretty much non-stop. I followed what another attendee did and used my phone's light to see the voting sheet.

Overall, this was really enjoyable. I love seeing people's creations. It was also cool that the audience got to vote. I like being able to give my input.

Something tells me that I have to watch the 3rd movie to Madoka sooner than later. Many AMVs that featured Madoka had video clips from the 3rd movie (wahhhh, spoilers!!! T_____T) 

This was originally slotted for 3 - 4 PM, but it went wayyy over. I was fine with it because I didn't know what I was going to do between 4 - 5 PM. Now I didn't have to think about it.

The voting sheet.
There were no scales in this voting sheet, so that voting by scale instruction didn't apply.

Even so... I only voted one AMV for "Best Fit" and one AMV for "Best Ship".

"I've Lost Myself" from BleachShippu5678.

By far my favourite of all the entries.

I haven't watched Koe no Katachi, but now I want to check it out!

There might be spoilers in this AMV, I'm not 100% sure.

Also, I love the song. I want to sing it for karaoke someday.

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Even though the Vendor's Hall was closing in 10 minutes, I went back inside. I wanted to see if Ryusei really would have free time to sign all those CDs... but if he didn't then at least I could say that I tried.

TAM and Ryusei were still busy selling CDs and chatting with attendees, so I stepped a bit away and waited. When it seemed Ryusei had a spare moment, I said hi.

"Umm... are you too busy to sign the CDs?" I asked.

"Sign...? Ah, yes. Sign." Ryusei nodded. I placed my CD stack on his booth. He unwrapped one of the CDs and started signing. 

"Will you really sign them all...?" I was worried it'd take too much time for him.

He shot me a look with an OK hand symbol. Then he asked me to help unwrap the CDs. When I put the CD wrappings in my other bag, Ryusei said not to do that and made motions to leave them on the table.

"Uhh..." I started, but didn't respond. I thought, 'These are my CD wrappings. I'm not going to give you any of my trash. You are already doing so much for me'. If he could be stubborn in giving me a discount, then I can be stubborn about taking care of my own CD wrappings *pouty face*

We made a bit of small chat. He asked if I've played KanColle. When I said no, he held up one of his arranged KanColle CDs I bought with a curious look. I said I was trying it out. I mean -- I ended up trying out FGO because of his arranged FGO CD...

"What about Touhou?"

I smiled. "Yes. It's very hard," I replied.

I would have spoken more, but I was focused on unwrapping the CDs. I kinda sucked at them, hahaha. If he looked at all, he would have seen me struggle with unwrapping a few of them, hahaha... OTL.

When Ryusei finished signing all the CDs, I thanked him deeply. 

Then we somehow ended up chatting a bit about anime. I asked him what anime series he liked. His top 3 were Attack on Titan, Fate, and Evangelion. I told him I'll check out Fate, and he recommended I start with Fate / Zero.

Next time, I'm going to try recommending that he check out Parasyte -the Maxim-. I think he might enjoy it, hahahaha.

I exchanged a few more words with Ryusei and TAM before saying bye. *sigh* It's so hard saying bye, hahaha :')

Misc. Photos for Sunday

A pianist who played outside the main events room for most of the convention.
It was pretty cool. His name is yabaiy0.

A Hatsune Miku-themed bike! XD

Overall Thoughts

Overall, AniRevo was super, super fun. Many of the attendees I interacted with were nice and friendly. I was pleasantly surprised by all the musical artists around. And of course -- it was great seeing TAM and Ryusei again. They treated me so well. I wasn't expecting it at all but appreciated it all the same! "Saikou!" Hahaha ^___^ It was totally worth the trip to Vancouver. I truly hope I get to see them again! But next time I'll try to give them a small break from me, hahaha.

This was my first time buying Gold admission, and I think it was quite worth its price. I loved I was able to get good seats to the concert and other panels I attended without stressing out about when to start lining up. For the right guests, I would definitely get this admission again.

I didn't attend the Closing Ceremonies, but according to AniRevo's tweet, the following were the winners from the AMV Contest:

Audience-voted
Best fit: "I've Lost Myself" from BleachShippu5678
Best ship: "Fireflowers" from Oscar
Made me laugh: "Expectations" from CatMilk
Made me cry: "The Heart of Kyoto Animation" by Azukano
Got me pumped: "Legacy" by ShinRyu

Judged
Best editing: "Legacy" by ShinRyu
Best composition: "It Rhymes" by KeiichiFace
Original content: "Legacy" by ShinRyu

If I had any feedback to give, it'd be to make sure there would be no chance of confusion for the Meet & Greet location in the future. Yes, the address was printed on the ticket... but I wasn't the only one who thought the location would be closest to the convention. Of course, next time I will double-check, but for attendees who won't do that... even having a small map printed on the back of the ticket or front of the ticket would help to minimize any possible confusion.

Would I go back to AniRevo? I think if I could afford the trip to Vancouver, I would love to attend every year. Right now, though, it will depend on the guests. If TAM and Ryusei got invited back -- well... I'd start saving now just for it! :)

For myself, personally -- even though I really enjoyed AniRevo, I wasn't 100% satisfied. I wish I could have better communicated with TAM and Ryusei. There were times I wanted to say something, but didn't know how to phrase it easily. I also didn't want to say something that could lead to misunderstandings. I know what I have to do to rectify that... I just -- have to get off my darn butt and learn more than what I already know (and I don't know much). Can I do it...? >_<''

Photos of Cosplayers

As mentioned earlier, here are some photos of cosplayers. There were tons of good cosplay, but just like at IFFT, many of them were in large groups, so I was kinda shy in asking to take a photo.

Miles Edgeworth from the Phoenix Wright games. 
Definitely a 5 out of 5! Hahaha ^-^

Yosuke Hanamura from Persona 4.
The person sounded really surprised when I asked to take a picture.

Lucifer demon from the Shin Megami Tensei series!
Woooooooot, SMT!!! XD

Sakura (I think) from Card Captor Sakura.

Hildibrand Manderville and Estinien Wrymblood from Final Fantasy XIV.

Gilgamesh from the Fate series.

A character from Touhou Project, I think. Little help, anybody?

EDIT -Aug.23, 2019 -- This is Yakumo Yukari from Touhouvania.
Thanks again TMCraze and the commenter below! :)

Cosplay I wanted to take a pic of, but missed my chance
-Physalis from Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius <-- she had the Moogle and everything!
-Bowsette <-- she looked so good!
-Too many others!

My Convention Purchases

Since I was at AniRevo mainly for TAM and Ryusei, I set aside most of my funds to supporting them. But -- if I saw something I really couldn't resist, I'd cave in and buy it. The only restriction I had was no posters nor prints. I didn't trust myself to bring them home in good condition since they'd be going in my luggage. I didn't have to worry about the CDs because I brought containers just for those.

For TAM and Ryusei, I tried my best to balance my spending. I didn't want to spend a crazy amount at one of their booths and not the other one! I think in the end I did a pretty good job.

I've said this in previous convention blogs, but I'm saying this again. When buying fan stuff, I often have this frame of mind:

1. Does the art style align with my tastes?
2. Does this work express the kind of fandom that expresses me? (like, if I saw a poster of Zuko and Katara holding hands and gently smiling, I might get it, because it expresses how I feel about their relationship -- a sense of deep understanding for each other)
3. Is this a piece of work that will evoke something in me every time I see it?

For what I've bought that I haven't yet watched / experienced the series for, I'll note it like this: (*)

Here is what I bought (minus things I've bought specifically as a gift):

Cute shiba stickers, other random stickers, and an artbook 
with gothy designs. Those shiba stickers... they were calling for me *___*!

So... I mentioned in my Kingdom Hearts Orchestra blog about an attendee who went about handing out free stickers. Well, I found the artist!
And I supported her a bit ^_^ These are Kingdom Hearts Orchestra-themed stickers.
When I told her I attended the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra, 
she asked if I cried, too, hahaha. 

CDs and keychains I bought from Ryusei (batch 1).
Now I just need 3, 4, 6, and 14, and I'll have the whole collection! :) 

CDs I bought from Ryusei (batch 2).

The free bags I received from Ryusei for buying so many CDs.
I received a duplicate of the left one on Sunday.

CDs I bought from TAM (batch 1). One of the CDs was given as a gift.

CDs I bought from TAM (batch 2). The two demo CDs at the top, 
plus another CD, were given as gifts.

A free bag I got from TAM for buying so many CDs.

More gifts from TAM. The dirty glasses are now clean glasses.

Some business cards I picked up.

And another one (that shiba looks so cuuute)!

And another one.

This artist drew provocative Azur Lane fanart and other things.

And another business card!

So, to calculate the "damage" to my wallet:
  Stickers from Zearyu: $20
  Penguin + Cat-in-shoe + sushi + onigiri sticker from miss.melbear: $5 (lotto of 3 rolls -- one prize allowed me to pick 2 stickers)
  Artbook from Shikama: $20
  Kingdom Hearts stickers from mysidianrabbit: $20
  TAM's music CDs (18) + 2 free gift CDs + free dirty glasses + other free gifts: $465
  Akai Ryusei's music CDs (19) + 3 keychains + 3 free bags + discount: $480


Total "Damage": $1010
Total "Damage" (NOT COUNTING TAM & Akai Ryusei's Merch): $65 (wow... hahaha...)



If you made it this far, thank you very much for reading! You are awesome! I tried my best to condense things, but I guess I made too many memories that I wanted to keep in-tact (the good ones and embarrassing ones). :)

If you have any questions about anything I experienced at AniRevo, or just comments and questions on anything, feel free to comment!

I really was hoping to get this blog done sooner. Fan Expo Canada is happening in two days and I am not prepared at all, hahaha.

Thank you again for reading and have a wonderful rest of the week! :)